~Victory~

Two weeks later....

Eleanor smiled at her reflection in the mirror that stood at the far end of her chambers at Windsor castle. The Yorkist nobles that had participated in the Tewksbury campaign had lodged there for the night but the next day was what all had been anticipating and was what had finally arrived!

For that morning the victorious Yorkists were to process through the streets of London with the country once more secure and the enemy defeated. Queen Margaret was to be present, would be paraded behind the King in a chariot as a spoil of war but the fate of the Bad Queen did not concern Eleanor. What did, was her part to play.

Edward had come to the Gloucester's chambers late the previous night and there and then announced that it would be Richard who would lead the victory procession and that Eleanor would ride on the King's horse with him.

Richard had looked as if he were about to faint with joy and pride and Eleanor almost clapped her hands in delight. To be given such a prestigious role she knew was an honour and a show that Edward truly did credit her with part of the victory!

As the sun rose, a servant had knocked at the door and delivered the most wondrous gown the Duchess had ever seen, prompting her suspicions that Edward had had this planned for quite some time (which was more than likely). It was made from cloth of gold, the golden thread that had been used to sew suns in splendour, boars and phoenixes onto the fabric, shimmering as the gown moved and caught the rays of the sun.

The sleeves were made of the same fine material and fell gracefully to her feet in her favourite style, a detail she was delighted Edward had included.

The front of the bodice displayed a beautiful York rose, created from diamonds and set with a Pearl in the middle that made Eleanor dizzy at the mere sight of. She had no idea how much such a garment had cost and decided she would dare not venture into that realm for her gown was fit for nothing less than a Queen and she knew it.

And so she allowed maid servants to buzz busily around her as she stood proudly in front of the mirror, puffing out her chest a little as the women arranged her hair, leaving it loose with only a diamond circlet, embellished with small emeralds, for decoration

Once the servants were done, they sank into low curtsies and left, bending the knee again as Richard walked through the door in a doublet of cloth of gold with a shining crown sitting atop his head.

"How do I look?" Eleanor asked as she twirled and Richard caught her by her waist, pulling her into a gentle kiss that she smiled into.
"You look radiant" he murmured against her lips, curling locks of her hair around his fingers "and I? Do you approve of your husband?"

Eleanor giggled, nodding vehemently as she reached up and took the crown from Richard's head, admiring the golden roses that were set with diamonds.
"You are a true prince of York" she replied, curtsying playfully to him before placing his crown back where it belonged "and you shall do your house proud"

"Our house" he corrected, taking her hand and gently kissing her palm "you are a York now" she smiled at him, her eyes flicking to the white rose banners that lined their chamber wall.

"Do you really think?" She asked, then looking to her own banner which hung above the bed, the golden Phoenix standing out on the deep blue velvet. She was a Woodville, wasn't she? Had always been and would always been, yet now Richard said she was a York.

"I do" he replied gently tilting her head back to him and stroking her cheek with his thumb. "Eleanor of York"

The door burst open and Richard sighed in annoyance, knowing exactly who had interrupted him before the person even announced themselves.
"Are you ready?" Edward boomed, also dressed in cloth of gold with the crown of the Kings of England atop his head, only slightly flattening the golden curls that bounced merrily around his face.

"We are" Richard replied turning with a frown etched onto his features, making Eleanor and Edward grin knowingly at one another "but must you interrupt every single moment I have with my wife"

"I don't interrupt every moment" Edward retorted, folding his arms as he smirked "if I did then I would have seen Leena naked by now!"

Eleanor smothered a shocked laugh behind her sleeve, feigning a cough as Richard's eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed silently.
"Besides" the King continued, a spark of mischief playing about in his eyes "I needed to interrupt you this time for if the Duchess is to be riding with me then we must leave now, Dickon!"

Striding forward, Edward took Eleanor's hand and swept her from the room, leaving Richard to rush after them in a huff.

As she entered the courtyard, Eleanor could already hear the nearby church bells ringing, calling out in the excitement of victory and a once more secure country. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she walked beside the King, relishing the way the nobles and servants alike bowed to her. She knew that once she was returned to the court they would bow to her as a Royal Duchess anyway but that did not mean that she disliked being bowed to as nothing less than a Queen.

Glancing behind her for a moment as they reached the horses, Eleanor locked gazes with her husband and he nodded to her, a look of pride in his eyes as Edward gently grasped her waist and lifted her effortlessly onto his horse's back.

"I believe you met Fury here when I first came to Grafton?" The King chuckled as he mounted behind her and she nodded, leaning forward a little to pat the animal's snow-white mane.

"You gave him to my nephews to look after" she recalled, a sad frown settling onto her lips as she was suddenly overcome by a wave of nostalgia, thinking on how simple life at Grafton had been. "It's so strange to think about my life before Elizabeth was Queen" she murmured, Edward's arms encircling her waist as his hands took up Fury's reins "it seems a whole world away"

She felt Edward nod behind her.
"But I hope you like the life you have now?" He asked tentatively "I know that I put you through a sort of hell in marrying you to Dickon....but you don't appear to hate one another anymore!"

If he had said the same to her just a year prior Eleanor most definitely would have frowned, would have most likely glared at him before shouting about how he had ruined her life. Yet now, she felt herself smile as she looked to her husband.

'My husband' she thought, her heart fluttering as it had never done before when she had thought of those words. No anger coursed through her veins, no resentment or sadness came over her, in fact what she felt was the opposite. For now there was a different meaning to those words.

It was the same on the surface but beneath all had changed. Those words meant that he was hers forever.

For over a year that meaning had driven her near mad with anger, now it drove her near mad with excitement, an unfamiliar childlike giddiness filling her as she studied Richard. How he spoke to his squire, how he saluted his men, how he turned to look at her and winked, making a flush creep up her neck.

Each of his actions in that moment filled her with delight and she could not fully explain why. But she knew now, as she turned to face the King, that she was happy and it was possible that she would have many happy years to come.

"I don't hate him" she said with a small laugh that made Edward grin, evident relief registering on his face "I don't know exactly what I feel for him, Edward, I can't explain it....I know that it is not love but before I wanted him nowhere near me, gone from my sight. Yet now my heart seems to wither when he isn't in my gaze"

"Well, ma petite boule de feu" the King said softly, touched by her warm words "you must know then that he feels the same about you" Eleanor raised her eyebrows, not exactly surprised, she knew that Richard felt something for her but it was different to hear it from another.

"Truly?" She replied, her voice barely audible, much to Edward's amusement as he nodded, lowering his head a little, his lips almost brushing against her ear.
"He told me, that he burns for you" he whispered and chuckled as he felt Eleanor still before a slight shiver ran through her, one she tried and failed to repress "that he wants you naked in his bed every single night and...."

"Stop it, Edward!" She ordered, swatting at his arm, though it was far too late to stop the desire that was whirling around her mind, sending jolts of fire between her thighs as she rubbed them together.

He grinned a little as he heard the skirt of her gown rustle slightly and motioned for his men to begin the procession, regal trumpets blaring as he nodded to Richard to take the lead.

"I take it by that reaction that I am forgiven for marrying you off to Dickon?" He asked, nudging Fury into a walk as Eleanor turned to look at him again.

"You are forgiven" she stated with a slight grin. "but if you ever mention Richard's lust for me in public again then I will throw you into the Thames!"
"I expected nothing less from you, Eleanor" he replied.

꧁꧂

The people of London were a dazzling sight for any that fine May Day. They gathered in their thousands by the roadside and some hung out of windows, climbed onto roofs and stood packed together on the decks of boats, all dressed in their best as they craned their necks to catch a glimpse of a noble or two.

It seemed that white rose petals were floating down from the heavens that day, almost a gift from God himself, a token of his love for the house of York.

The people that cast them out into the world to shower down on the passing Yorkists, smiled and waved, the women giggling whenever a Yorkist noble looked toward them and the men doffing their caps to whomever rode their way.

"They seem to like us, do you not think, Leena?" Edward called to the Duchess over the roar of the crowds that seemed to become more deafening with every passing second.

Eleanor grinned and nodded, beaming at everyone around her, every so often looking ahead to Richard who was waving and smiling at the front of the procession.

"Indeed!" She yelled back, her voice filled with excitement "they are glad that their rightful King has returned, as am I!"
"Well I'm glad of that too!" Edward laughed, pulling a golden coin from the small pouch at his hip and tossing it towards a girl with golden hair that smiled widely at him "I bet they would find even more joy if you kissed me!"

The look on Eleanor's face as she turned around in less than a second was more than comical, a look of shock yet Edward seemed to think she could be persuaded.
"The Duchess of Gloucester kissing the King of England?!" She cried with a short laugh "really! We were talking of my improving relationship with Richard just an hour ago and now you want to kiss me? Besides, you are married to my sister!Really, I sometimes wonder if you hear yourself!"

"Well" Edward retorted, highly amused by her response "I know that you kiss Richard and I hear from him that George kissed you so why, ma petite boule de feu, am I the only York brother who is missing out on the touch of your sweet lips against mine?" He paused for a moment, watching as she began to smile, her eyes filling with mischief and intrigue as she thought about his proposition.

"Have you asked Richard about this?" She asked, arching an eyebrow and giggling as Edward nodded, knowing that he would not lie to her about something such as this.

Shuffling around in the saddle a little more, she placed her hands on his shoulders and leant in a little, shaking her head.
"You do know that people who write England's history books shall damn us for years for this? She asked, laughing "they will think I'm you're mistress!"

"Then I will provide enough evidence to prove that you are not!" Edward replied, removing one of his hands from Fury's reins to gently cup her cheek before he tilted her head upward and softly touched his lips to hers.

After a few moments he pulled away and Eleanor stared at him, laughing as the crowds seemed to go wild, cheering with all their might.
"Elizabeth might kill you for that" she teased. "just wait until she hears!"

Edward grinned, catching a rose that was thrown his way and presenting it to her. Taking it into her hand, Eleanor turned around again and chuckled to herself. It was a mad act to be sure, one that in the future could perhaps tarnish her reputation.

But at least she could now boast that she had kissed every living York brother, no matter how much of a wanton that made her sound.